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Last night my husband gave me a launch present. Something he said no self-respecting founder, media mogul or old school reporter would start a company without: A bottle of scotch for the desk drawer. Not even 24 hours later and that little gift is starting to look pretty good...

The message couldn't have been more clear at TechCrunch's Disrupt Beijing last fall: Sure you've got several $1 billion-plus public companies, China. And, yes, you have more people online than any other country. But the Chinese Web scene will have really come of age when you stop copying and start leading on features and products.

Several months ago I became obsessed with a colony of trees in Utah called Pando Trees. Measuring 43 hectares and weighing 6,000 tons, they're pretty impressive above ground. But what really matters is what is happening below. The interconnected root system is the oldest living organism in the world. No matter what happens above ground, that root system stays alive, and continually shoots up new trees.

Aside from all this, there's a nice side-benefit about starting PandoDaily: I can officially now call bullshit on people (usually men) who insist women don't start companies in the Valley, because men don't let them.